Our Choices In Life - Year One
by Pyrohub
Summary: Our choices in life dictate our life. A drop of a pebble could create ripples so a drop of stupidity can cause consequences of the large or small variety but a dose of intelligence can only be rewarded with positive things. So should we not take our choices with more thought.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Nearly two years had passed since Davidson Orphanage had woken up to find little Harry Potter dumped on them by social services but, Davidson Terrace had hardly changed at all from that sunny day.

The sun rose on the same front door and lit up on the same silver nameplate on the orphanages' front; it crept into their hallway through windows, the hallways were almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Matron had seen that fateful news report about the abuse of a young boy from Surrey.

Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed since that day.

Eight years ago, there had been lots of pictures of different children with different looks, ages and personalities but, the children in those pictures were no longer as young as they once were, now the photographs showed a new group of children and older versions of the children shown earlier.

However, there was a child more prominent in all of these pictures. The rooms held every sign that there was a boy who lived in the house and his name was... Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was very talented. And the trophies he had earned were proof of his tale, trophies ranging from certificates to a scholarship at a private high school. Harry Potter was the go-to person if you wanted something.

His voice was always what made the first loud noise of the day: "Up! Everyone get up!" The children woke up begrudgingly as was a habit. He began to rap on each person's door making sure each child had woken up.

After he had made sure all the children had at least got out of bed he made his way to the kitchen to dish out each person's food as he usually did.

The children heard him walking toward the kitchen and then almost instantaneously the sound of excited children marched around the orphanage at the prospect of Harry's cooking.

He rolled up his sleeves and he began to serve the breakfast he and the Matron had made. When the children began to flow into the room they thanked Harry for the food as they always did.

Harry looked thin yet muscular, he was perfectly in between the two looks. He had a streamlined face, bony knees, and untameable black hair, and his most alluring feature was his bright green eyes. He wore round glasses that looked new something truly magical as he had been wearing them since the age of eight almost two years ago.

Mysteriously the only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt...

He had brought up some bad memories.

"You really need to comb your hair, Harry." Hannah small talked, by way of a morning greeting. Harry looked over the top of his newspaper, yes he read them they just seem to pass the time faster for him, and shook his head, Harry always needed a haircut.

Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - wild and all over the place.

"Eat, not talk." He chastised playfully.

The girl stuck out her tongue in return.

The table then became silent as everyone enjoyed their meal. When they were done eating everyone began to get changed. You see today was a trip day.

Trip days were sponsored by the government and happened once a year. No one really liked trip days as they never went anywhere interesting but who were they to whine.

An hour later Harry, was sitting in  
the back of the Keepings Coaches with Hannah, David; a black boy who was a year younger than him and Libby; Hannahs girlfriend, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life yet he couldn't help but be bored since Hannah and Libby kept arguing, and not the playful kind, and to make it worse David had decided to doze off almost instantly.

When they got off the bus Matron had taken Harry aside.

"I'm going to need your help," she said, "can you make sure they don't do something stupid." Harry could never say no to her captivating smile it always made him feel helpless.

"Of course Matron," he said easily handing himself over.

"We've known each other for two years now, its Christine." she gave him a mischievous smile.

"Yes Christine." the stiffness of his voice was endearing.

Smiling as if triumphant at her prize she walked away with twelve children under the age of nine while Harry took the seven over nine years old.

To say the day was boring was an understatement. All the animals seemed to think as well as they just sat there and ate. The penguins were fun for a while but almost immediately got tiring.

"Why don't we go to the reptile area." it was an inconspicuous suggestion that no one could see a problem with but the arrogant nature of which it was spoken in that made Harry worried.

Sam was fifteen, much older than the other orphans, so it went straight to his head. His ego made him feel as if he was second in command to Matron, a position held by Harry himself, and everyone should listen to him.

When they got into the reptile area Harry was on guard prepared to stop the larger boy if he tried anything. The boy immediately ran to a display.

"Guys look a dragon!" he shouted while pointing at a Komodo Dragon.

His attempt at comedy was pitiful but Harry would prefer it over none. Harry walked over to the snake aisle trusting in them to behave even if for a little while. The aisle seemed to draw him and he could tell something interesting was going to happen.

Harry was very used to strange things often happening around him and it was just no good pretending he didn't make them happen.

At one time, Harry was playing a game with Matron- she called it Poker- and Harry was betting actual money and he had already lost seventy-five pounds to her and then something strange happened he saw her memory of what cards she had and caught her cheating him to say he was angry when he found out was too tame but Matron easily won him over.

However, there were some things Harry wasn't the proudest about when it came to his powers.

He sometimes cheated.

Whenever he was losing a match at football he'd give the other team an "unlucky" streak. Balls went astray from goal, children fell while running and the referee didn't notice any obvious violations of regulations.

Harry wasn't proud of it but he wasn't incapable of using it due to pride but it always came second in thought process to his skill which.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake, it was a Boa Constrictor from Brazil.

Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo.

He wouldn't have been surprised if the snake had died of boredom itself - no  
company except for stupid people disturbing it all day long.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes piercing into Harry's mind. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's, the snake wasn't even perturbed at the boy's presence almost seeming to have sensed him beforehand.

It winked at Harry an amused glint in its eyes

Harry stared.

Something interesting did happen.

He looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't any onlookers. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. The snake looked at him and hissed, "You look as bored as me."

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying to be stuck here day in day out."

The snake nodded sadly.

"But a gentleman must get used to it or it may make an animal lose its sanity." the snake's tone was depressing.

Trying to lighten the mood, Harry replied: "I didn't know snakes could be gentlemen."

Replying "Some of us pride ourselves on our genius you know."

"Really," Harry mused "I wonder what you use your genius for?" Harry asked with a smile.

"A lot more interesting things if I could get out of here," It said shaking its head.

"You want to escape?" Harry questioned.

"Is there something wrong with the notion."

"No, it just doesn't seem gentlemanly to me," Harry smirked.

The snake could do nothing but give a huff.

The conversation was about to continue once more but there was a smashing of glass and the sound came from over on the other side. Harry rushed knowing that was where he had left the others.

In front of the shattered glass stood David with an angry glare while Stan sat on the floor cowering in fear.

Harry immediately began to clear the mess. He was used to things breaking when David got angry and very used to seeing Stan get his comeuppance.

He fixed the glass quickly using the same kind of strangeness he used to keep his glasses in top shape.

Looking for any cameras- he saw none, witnesses- a little girl who he gave a wink, and for those who came to check what had happened he pretended as of if nothing happened and with no physical damage it was as if nothing had happened.

After laying low for a minute harry dragged both boys out of the reptile area and towards the petting zoo. When he came across Matron he asked if she could take them but in turn, she replied the bus was already here so they may as well go early. When they got home Matron took Stan to the side while Harry took David.

"Why did you two start a fight now?" Harry asked with a sigh.

"He deserved it," David replied, "when you left he kept on acting like a git insulting people and even hitting the glass so I told him to stop."

"He didn't take kindly to that did he?" Harry didn't even need confirmation but was still given it in the form of a nod.

He exhaled hard.

"I know he provoked you but there was no need to stoop to his level," Harry began to ponder, "you're grounded for a week."

"But that isn't fair Harry!"

"You caused more damage than he did."

"I couldn't help it!"

"Haven't I been teaching you how to control it?"

"It just got let out of control that once."

"Then this week should make it easier for you to be more in control."

With this, David ran up to his room stomping his feet in frustration.

Harry couldn't help but sigh.

He'd learned to live with those who he didn't like for almost eight years, and they were terrible years.

Ever since he'd been a baby and his parents  
had died in that car crash, He was stuck with that abusive family yet he always stuck with them out of necessity.

This experience had made him able to bear people no matter who. And Harry found it hard to tolerate some things people did.

A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with his relatives after asking in a deep shade of embarrassment if he knew the man, his aunt had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything.

Although he still got blamed for what had happened.

A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green, a very strange colour, had waved merrily at him once on a bus. And then just kept taking glances at Harry as if she was infatuated with him to say Harry was unnerved at the _**fifty-year-old**_ woman's looks was an understatement.

Another time a bald man in a very long the purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The snide comments Hannah gave calling him jailbait hadn't helped the situation.

The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

Harry hated the people who did those things, they didn't have any consideration about how irritated their actions left him feeling only satisfying their sick pleasure.

But the most interesting thing was that the time his relatives had come into contact with people like them was that they were 'one of his parent's lot'.

From when he was young he had never been able to remember being in the car when his parents had died and he was in the car that was how he got the scar, however, he was only fifteen months old at the time so maybe he was asking for too much.

Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his old cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding a flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead but he never pondered on it after leaving the Durs...

He couldn't remember his parents at all. His relatives never spoke about them, and of course, he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened, but this orphanage was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

By the time David was allowed out of the orphanage again, the summer holidays had started.

Harry was sad to say the school year was over, as he now had nothing to occupy himself with. This empty feeling led Harry to spend all his time out of the orphanage, wandering around, with the always enthusiastic Hannah and the perpetually sombre David, thinking about the end of the holidays looming over him.

Unlike all the other children Harry could only be in his element when he went to school, a place where he excelled. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and to Harry's disappointment he wouldn't be with the others from the orphanage.

Libby had been accepted at an old all-girls school, Trias High School, thirteen miles away from Crewe. Hannah was going to the local Crewe co-ed school called Slaton High, this explained their argument on the bus. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Elizabeth High, the top school in Crewe. Sam thought this was very funny as it left Harry isolated from the others.

One day while Harry and Matron were making breakfast, while Harry was making breakfast, both cooks heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Can you please get the mail Matron," Harry said from as he began to fry the bacon.

"Make Christine get it."

"Can you please get the mail, Christine."

"Make Matron get it."

Harry sighed, almost shocked at the childishness she had just to do such a simple thing. Harry dodged the victorious grin Matron wore and went to get the mail.

There were lots of things which lay on the doormat: a postcard from Glen, a boy who used to live in the orphanage but had gotten adopted by a nice family, who was vacationing in Madrid, Spain.

A brown envelope that looked like a bill, his prescription for the newspaper, a letter from the Greys who had come a month or so ago, they had most likely decided to adopt someone, and - a letter for Harry.

Harry picked it up and stared at it, his mind contorting in thought at who could have written this letter. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends outside of the orphanage and he had hot made any before he came to the orphanage, no other relatives... Who would write to him anyway - he had already gotten all the things from school at open evening as well.

Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:  
Mr H. Potter  
Bottom Left Bunk Bed At The End Of The Hallway  
14 Davidson Terrace  
Crewe  
Cheshire

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.

He stalked towards the kitchen still bending his mind trying to work out the mystery until he reached the conclusion that it must have been an offer from an old private school if the coat of arms was anything to go by.

He would read it later as he could already see Matron poisoning the food if he let her carry on cooking.

His voice was always what made the first loud noise of the day: "Up! Everyone get up!" The children woke up begrudgingly as was a habit. He began to rap on each person's door making sure each child had woken up.

After he had made sure all the children had at least got out of bed he made his way to the kitchen to dish out each person's food as he usually did.

The children heard him walking toward the kitchen and then almost instantaneously the sound of excited children marched around the orphanage at the prospect of Harry's cooking.

Everyone chugged down their food as if they were hungry wolves. As he watched over them Harry began to read his letter at the table after he had eaten his food, he still had to set an example.

He began to read the addresses letter:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)  
Dear Mr Potter,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1.  
As you have lived in a muggle oriented household we have decided to send a teacher in order to assist you in your choice to join the school, the purchase of your school equipment and integration into the wizarding society.  
We would also like to invite you to a special open evening at Professor McGonagall's personal residence, however, this is optional.  
Yours sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

Harry unfolded the second piece of paper he hadn't noticed before, and read:  
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY UNIFORM  
First-year students will require:  
1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT  
Wand cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set  
Glass or Crystal Phials  
Telescope set  
Brass Scales  
Students may also bring an owl, a cat or a toad  
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"What is it, Harry?" said Hannah confused towards Harry's unamused gaze.

"It's nothing important," Harry said in a cold tone.

The inhabitants of the residence were shocked still, it was as if hell had frozen over and pigs began to fly.

"That's mine!" said Harry viciously, as he tried to snatch the letter back from David.

"What'd they be writing to you that's got you so worked up?" David said in concern, as he tore the letter open with one hand and he began to rip into it.

His face went from confusion to anger in a split second. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge and objects began to rise.

"M-M-Matron!" Sam rasped still in fear.

Hannah grabbed the letter so as to read it, but was unable to finish as Matron slithered into the room and held it high out of her reach. Matron took it curiously and read the whole letter line for line. For a moment it looked as though she might lose consciousness. She crumpled the paper and forced a choking noise.

"Harry! Oh my goodness - Harry!"

They stared at each other both having contrasting thoughts, seems to have forgotten that the other children were still in the room and still paying them attention.

Sam, with his superiority complex, wasn't used to being out of the loop and he gave Harry a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.

His command was immediately shot down.

I don't want you to read it or anyone else for that matter," said Harry furiously, "and as it's mine I'm sure my opinions go."

"Harry do you want to talk about it," Matron said pushing out concern into her voice, as she stuffed the letter back inside its envelope.

The comment and cohesion made by Matron calmed down harry and he nodded his head slowly as if charmed.

I WANT THE LETTER!" Sam shouted."Let me see it!" demanding to be put in the loop.

"Quiet!" reprimanded Matron ecstatic at the thought of trapping Harry by himself, and she took both Harry into her quarters holding onto his hand as if meant to be reassuring. She closed the door into the hallway behind, slamming the kitchen door as if threatening the others to follow.

Sam and David began to have a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Sam won, so David listened from the floor, his ears straining to hear what was being said, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor a few seconds they were joined by Hannah.

Even when being so close to the door an unknown force willed them to be unable to hear but unlike Sam, David had the power to deter the wills powers but not stop it.

"Harry, are yo_ _," Matron was saying invoice whose intention could not be perceived, "look at the a_ress _ _esn't make se_e how could they possibly know where _ sleep it _n't? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"_ing - spying - might even be following us," muttered Harry wildly conspiracy theories coming left and right in his head.

"B_ _at should we do, _? Shou_ we write to the police? Tell them that your rel_ives _ds mig-"

Hannah could see practically see Harry's black hair being groomed backwards by Harry as he had a habit of doing when he thought hard about something.

"No," he said finally his thinking coming to a conclusion. "No, we'_ just have to _nore it. If _ don't get an answer... Yes, that is pro_ly the best course of _tion... _ _'t _ _."

"But Har-"

"I'm not hav_ an overblown problem in this new home, _tron! Did_ we swear when you took me in we'd stamp out the past! didn't we promise to let go of what they did! didn't you promise me I could forget about it!?"

At that, Harry stormed out of the room ignoring the eavesdroppers and the eavesdroppers did their best to be ignored.

That evening when Harry got back from walking and had calmed down, Sam did something he'd never done before in dinner; he didn't talk to Harry in his condescending manner, in fact, he did not even speak to Harry as Harry's anger was still visible in his mind.

"What was the letter about?" said Hannah with a hidden tact as she knew Harry would not lose control of his emotions in front of the younger children and he would never lie to **_anyone_** he cared about.

The moment Harry had heard these words he squeezed his nose and squirmed in the kitchen chair.

"Did you finish your food."

"Who's writing to you?"

"No one important, I'm almost sure that it was a mistaken letter, maybe even a prank," said Harry in a very short and uncaring manner.

"What did you do with it?"

"I have burned it."

"Why?"

"Does that matter."

"I'm just worried about my angered friend."

"Not angered just worried."

"Why?" Hannah said genuinely curious.

"I'm sure you heard."

"No we were unable to, when we put our hear to the door it seemed to gain soundproof properties."

Looking surprised for mere seconds Harry began to study each of the eavesdropper's faces and saw one wasn't exactly complaint with her words.

"It seems one of you was able to, however."

Both Sam and Hannah looked questionably at David noticing Harry's gaze.

"I had to really will myself to be able to listen," David replied to the silent questions.

"Ah, that explains the soundproof qualities then."

"How!" Sam said with force.

"I willed myself not to be heard," was Harry's simple reply.

"We're going off topic."

"What do your relatives have to do with the letter you got, I thought they were in jail," David interjected.

"They are, so that's why they have nothing to do with this conversation at all, " Harry said getting defensive.

"Then why would you men-" he was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"I think it's time for curfew," Harry said taking up his mantle of second in command to Matron.

"It's two hours too early!" a five-year-old orphan said shocked at the changed retirement time.

"I guess you have only these three to blame for that," with this all of the attention that was focused on Harry was redirected in just a few words.

Realising that the ire of the whole orphanage was on them Sam, Hannah and David decided to leave the issue there but they didn't even wait one day before the issue was brought up again.

Harry's voice was always what made the first loud noise of the day: "Up! Everyone get up!" The children woke up begrudgingly as was a habit. He began to rap on each person's door making sure each child had woken up.

After he had made sure all the children had at least got out of bed he made his way to the kitchen to dish out each person's food as he usually did.

The children heard him walking toward the kitchen and then almost instantaneously the sound of excited children marched around the orphanage at the prospect of Harry's cooking.

He rolled up his sleeves and he began to serve the breakfast he and the Matron had made. When the children began to flow into the room they thanked Harry for the food as they always did.

"You really need to comb your hair, Harry." Hannah small talked, by way of a morning greeting. Harry looked over the top of his newspaper, yes he read them they just seem to pass the time faster for him, and shook his head, Harry always needed a haircut.

"Worry about your mess before you speak to me about mine." Harry punctuated those words with a smirk.

Hannah sputtered and began to retaliate.

*DING* *DONG*

However, their quiet but eventful lives came to a standstill.

Harry got up from his chair and went to the door.

 _Maybe it's_ _the Greys._

Harry opened the door to a woman who would later name herself as Professor Minerva McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was a tall, black-haired woman who was dressed in emerald-green robes stood there looking at Harry with a calculating look and unbeknownst to both of them some softness. She had a very stern face, that Harry could translate to a stern personality, and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross but to befriend.

"Harry Potter?" she questioned not generally but to Harry specifically which shocked the boy.

"Yes, and what may you need Ma'am."

"Did you receive our letter of invitation yesterday?"

This left Harry dumbfounded, she did not seem the type to be friends with his relatives not to mention hold their friendship intact after two years of the Dursleys in jail.

"I'm sorry to say I thought it was a cruel prank," Harry replied as he thought he had just clued her in on the fact that he wasn't as gullible as this woman believed him to be but her response was not what he had expected it to be.

"Why so Mr Potter?" Harry was shocked at the lack of anger he had expected from her after he had "found her".

"I'm sorry to say but my logical side had me believe that magic was a work of fiction." Harry pointedly said hoping to poke holes in her supposed facade.

"Did you know some works of fiction are based on fact." the reply was short and spoken as if informing Harry of something the way a teacher would.

"May I have some evidence?" Harry retorted knowing he had her stumped.

"Then look at your hands," she answered towards his subtle challenge.

Harry looked and was shocked to find his skin turned into reptilian scales.

Harry stared at his hands for an eternity and then looked at the woman with the same disbelief.

After two eternities Harry said, "It seems this will be enough proof."

With this, a grin that never graced McGonagall for eleven years had graced McGonagall.

* * *

AN: I will use this to explain or accept valuable criticism.

Studley24

Thanks for not immediately bashing me and it was on purpose as I wanted to emphasise the fact that Harry's day was always practically the same so that the second time I repeated it and McGonagall came to the orphanage it had more of an impact.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

* * *

"July 31?"

"Yes."

"I never knew that."

"When did you celebrate your birthday then?"

"May 12."

"Why?"

"The people who put me in the orphanage didn't have any record of my date of birth, so they decided to use the day I was brought in."

"No record? How?"

The voice grimaced.

"My..." a pause, "relatives never celebrated or," a cringe this time, "even knew my birthday."

"Then I must say I'm glad that you're not in the custody of them anymore."

Harry smiled.

"I guess the feeling is shared."

McGonnagal took a turn into a pub.

Harry read the sign.

The Leaky Cauldron.

"Is this where we are going to buy all my things?" Harry wondered aloud not even noticing the shop until Professor McGonnagal had walked into it and considering the large size he found it magical he hadn't noticed it.

"No, but just behind it is where we need to go for your school equipment," said McGonnagal.

Harry had been to London once or twice on trips with Matron to buy things but obviously not as much as the teacher.

McGonnagal easily navigated the way to the pub in front of him, she was surprisingly adept at using 'muggle' things, as she called them, to getting here and kept complaining how it would always be easier to get here the ordinary way.

She complained silently that the seats were too uncomfortable and the trains **_much_** too slow.

"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," she said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops of different kinds.

The Professor may not have been tall however her aura was so strong that she parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind her.

They passed bookshops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and a run-down cinema, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand, that was real anyway.

This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be an abundance of wizarding people and history buried in this normality? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks?

If Harry had thought that the woman in front of him was the type who had a sense of humour like that he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything he had been told had been unbelievable he still remembered how she had changed his genetic structure and everything she told him so far was in turn made believable.

Although Harry didn't realise it subconsciously Harry couldn't help but find himself trusting her.

"Inside you come now Mr Potter," said McGonagall, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's the best way into Diagon Alley, the place where we will find all your equipment for school."

It was a grubby-looking pub. The sign was dirty and old. Mould covered the building in patches and the door seemed to have greyed.

People hurrying by onto work didn't even glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big bookshop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and McGonagall could see it.

Walking inside Harry asked, "Are magical people the only ones that can see it?"

"Yes, it's under a notice-me-not charm and muggle repellant wards." The reply was concise yet informative.

For being the best place into this 'Diagon Alley', it was a very dark and shabby looking place. An old group of men were sitting in a corner, drinking large glasses of whiskey and spirit. One of them was smoking a long wooden pipe that gave off a funny smell and amazing shapes. He could see a little man in a white top hat he was passed out as if he has been here since last night. A gigantic man was talking to the old bartender who was bald and Harry rudely thought he looked like a toothless walnut.

The low buzz of chatter lowered in tone when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know McGonagall; they waved polite waves and smiled polite smiles at her, the bartender handed what seemed to be another glass to the giant in front of him, then saying to McGonagall, "The usual business Professor?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? You are no longer a student of mine and I'm no longer your teacher, which I must say I'm quite glad at this." McGonagall finished her words placing a playful smile on her face as if to punctuate her teasing.

Harry was surprised to find the professor had a sense of humour.

"I'm glad both of us fell this way," he began to stare at the harry, "what's your name then lad."

"Harry Potter, nice to meet you," Harry replied extending his hand towards for a handshake.

"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this really - can this really be McGonagall -?"

The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent wondering what the old man was on about.

"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honour."

He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and tried to seize his hand, tears in his eyes.

But the giant at the bar was there before he was.

"Welcom' bac', Harry, welcom' bac', I'm so gla' you're ok, I'm so gla'."

Harry was speechless he didn't know how to reply to this genuine love a complete _**stranger**_ had shown him. And looking up he was shocked to see everyone was looking at him. The old man with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out.

McGonnagal was shaking her head in bemusement at the situation.

Then there was an instant great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron as they pushed the giant, with great effort, away from him.

"David Cocksly, Mr Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last," said the smoker.

"So proud, Mr Potter, I'm just so proud," another one of the men who drank whiskey and spirit said hastily.

The little man with the top hat, that was tilted to the side now, was the most fervent in his handshake as if still drunk out of his mind, in fact looking at him he probably still was.

Harry shook hands again and again - the giant kept coming back for more.

McGonagall could see Harry's discomfort and decided to help him out, "I'm sure you wouldn't want to crush his arm Hagrid."

"Sor' professor didn' mean ta'." blushed the newly named giant.

"Don't worry Professor, its fine." Harry did his best to hide his relief at his release.

"Come on we shouldn't stop here for too long," McGonagall replied her tone dictating the end of the meeting, "Would you like to come with us Hagrid."

Harry had noticed the longing that was in the eyes of the titan and knew that McGonagall had as well.

"O' cour' professor," Hagrid replied with a speed that did not fit his build.

"Come on then young Harry we must be going." with a turn, off she went and Harry quickly began to follow her with Hagrid following behind him.

While they were walking into a quiet alleyway Harry asked, "Do you know me from somewhere?"

Before Hagrid could reply McGonagall said, "Harry, everyone in the whole wizarding world knows of who you are."

Shock, "Really, why?"

"I'll leave that to the Headmaster."

Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can and had a focus that portrayed he was trying to remember something.

"Three up, two across Hagrid" McGonagall informed.

He muttered his reply. "Right, th'nks professor, " then with a voice of grandeur he shouted, "stand back, Harry!"

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into a solid wall.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' one fer Snape's class," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."

Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction, speechless, as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, " BilliWig stingers, seven Sickles per stinger, they're mad..."

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it.

"Look," Harry heard one of them say, "The new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...

"Welcome ta' Gringotts," said Hagrid. They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was that -

"Yes Mr Potter, that was a goblin," said McGonagall quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head and a half shorter than Harry.

He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were  
facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

 ** _Enter, stranger, but take heed_**  
 ** _Of what awaits the sin of greed,_**  
 ** _For those who take, but do not earn,_**  
 ** _Must pay most dearly in their turn._**  
 ** _So if you seek beneath our floors_**  
 ** _A treasure that was never yours,_**  
 ** _Thief, you have been warned, beware_**  
 ** _Of finding more than treasure there._**

"Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it. Th'y say th'y ev'n gotta dragon as a guard; God I'd luve a dragon want'd one since I was a kid, " said Hagrid with a merry expression.

Harry was just shocked at how someone would want to own a dragon as a pet and if Professor McGonagall's shake of the head indicated, it wasn't normal even in the wizarding world.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high  
stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses.

There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid, McGonagall and Harry made for the counter.

"Morning," said McGonagall to a free goblin. "We've come to take some money out of Mr Potter's vault."

"Of which three?"

 _"Three!" Harry thought._

"His trust fund."

"You have his key, Madame?"

Harry looked up at the teacher.

 _"_ _Trust fund? I have a trust fund. Who is paying for that?" Harry's mind began turning and spinning in thought._

"Yer paren's left ya money fer school stuff," Hagrid said noticing his confusion.

He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "How did you know my parents?"

The giant chuckled. "True, I haven't introduced myself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and  
Grounds at Hogwarts and I used ta' keep yer father away from the Forbidden Forrest." He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.

Meanwhile, the goblin looked at the key closely. "Everything seems to be in order."

"Hagrid have you done your business in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" McGonagall said abruptly as if remembering something.

"Yep! Did it yesterday." Hagrid said with a quickness that was unnatural.

"Good come on then let's go, Mr Potter." McGonagall gave the giant a glare as she said this.

"Griphook!" Shouted the goblin on the counter.

Griphook was yet another goblin. Harry and company followed Griphook toward one of the many doors leading off out of the hall.  
"What's the important thing in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked curiously.

"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

McGonagall seemed pleased at his tight lip but Harry had seen his type before, he would accidentally slip up with some more prodding.

Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches.

It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.

At first, they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way because Griphook wasn't steering.

Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open as it was an exhilarating feeling. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, and he wasn't disappointed - - they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge  
stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Harry called to the back of him over the noise of the cart, "What's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the  
wall to stop his knees from trembling.

"A stalactite is an icicle-shaped formation that hangs from the ceiling of a cave and is produced by precipitation of minerals from water dripping through the cave ceiling. Most stalactites have pointed tips, " said McGonagall, "A stalagmite is an upward-growing mound of mineral deposits that have precipitated from water dripping onto the floor of a cave. Most stalagmites have rounded or flattened tips."

Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze ovals. And shockingly a bookshelf.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid.

All Harry's - it was incredible. The Durs... couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained about how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.

Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.  
"The gold ones are Galleons," McGonagall explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle.

"It's easy enough ter remember. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, the goblins keep the rest safe for yeh."

"What about the books?" Harry questioned staring at them in wonder.

"They will be sent to you depending on the age they were meant for," McGonagall replied.

Griphook motioned for them to follow him. "Vault two hundred and five section two, and before you ask me can we go more slowly? One speed only," said Griphook.

"Why are we going there may I ask?" McGonagall politely inquired.

In reply, Griphook said "It is Mr Potters personal vault, now hurry time is gold.

They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.

Vault two hundred and five had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.

"Why do you have such measures?" McGonagall pondered.

"Some fools have tried to send dark objects to Mr Potter, believing us to be fooled easily," he said with a sneer.

Griphook unlocked the door. And yet again A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry was confused. Inside were mounds of gold coins feeble in comparison to his trust fund. Columns of silver that stood taller than his trust fund. Heaps of little bronze ovals that didn't compare to his trust fund. Yet shockingly not only were their jewellery, but there was also an ocean's worth of letters. However, there was unfortunately only a few books.

"Where these donations?" Harry asked looking for confirmation.

"Yes, Mr Potter, when you defeated the Dark Lord people were insistent on giving you gifts, even us goblins gave you something but you will only receive it in your seventh year at Hogwarts," Griphook said confirming Harry's suspicion and adding a detail Harry had no idea of.

"I defeated the Dar-" Harry began before McGonagall interrupted.

"Let's take some for your personal use then Mr Potter."

Harry glared at the woman but she just gave him a look that said she would explain later.

After taking five galleons and twenty sickles Harry and Co. left.

"Let's get your uniform first then Harry," said McGonagall, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

"Goodbye, Harry I gotta go now I hope yer don't mind," Hagrid said after looking at his oversized watch.

"Of course not Mr Hagrid it was nice to meet you," Harry spoke with a small smile.

"Just call me Hagrid Harry," and with that, he was off hurrying back to Gringotts.

"I think he forgot to take the important thing in that vault."

McGonagall sighed and just carried on walking.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dear?" she said when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. "

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.

Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"I'm going next door to buy my books and then up the street to start looking at wand shops," said the boy. He had a bored, superior voice.

"Then I'm going to Flying Kings to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Harry was about to say something but McGonagall best him, "I would think not young man."

The boy didn't even look ashamed at a teacher catching him before he could even do his crime, he just stared at both Harry and McGonagall calculatingly.

"You're muggleborn?" his tone was demanding.

"What?" Harry was confused at the term.

"No, he's muggle raised," McGonagall answered for him.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Harry.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be didn't the boy hear 'muggle raised'.

"I do - know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family has been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.

"Know how you got that scar?" he continued his questions.

"No." Harry's reply was monotonic as if he was hypnotised.

"Are you Harry Potter?" the boy said still in his drawling tone.

"Yes," These questions were becoming even more mundane.

Then Harry caught up to the conversation.

"You give information up easily you know that." his voice was still drawling and he didn't even acknowledge McGonagall's and Harry's shock.

"Since you worked out mine what's yours?" Harry said with a sharp edge, this boy had tricked him easily.

"If I have to put in effort don't you?" the boy's grin was nauseating.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Guys Pyrohub here pretending I'm not two weeks late anyway I would like to hear your opinion of this chapter because this one gave me a headache. The reason for this is that I had to basically start from scratch because I was a retard and decided my story needs to be different.

I'll use Omakes as a way to show what kind of thing I was originally going for but only because it's practically stuck in my fucking head.

 _ **Omake**_

 _ **"Ah! How rude of me," he said as he was about to leave, "it was nice to meet you Lady McGonagall and Heir Potter."**_

 _ **"The feeling is mutual Heir...?" McGonagall inquired switching to a more regal tone when compared to her previous teaching one.**_

 _ **"Oh! You worked that out all by yourself," Harry could almost see the sarcasm in the boy's voice "well it be rude to not tell you I guess."**_

 _ **With an extravagant bow, the boy said with a sickly grin, "Corvus Rabastan Lestrange."**_

* * *

 _ **With a sigh, Harry replied, "I have something you lack Sam, a brain."**_

 _ **Sam began seething.**_

 _ **Harry began walking.**_

 _ **Sam started charging but Harry...**_

 _ **Harry sent the boy back many feet.**_

* * *

This may not seem major at the moment but it becomes clearer as time goes on. Any way enough of my rambling on with the story.

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

However before Harry could counter the blonde git, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear, come back later for your robes or maybe you'd like them owl delivered?"

The boy contemplated for a moment still and calculating.

"I'll come to pick them up later Ma'am."

With a nod of reply from Malkin, the boy began to leave, his robes billowing in the wind.

"Ah! How rude of me," he said as he was about to leave, "it was nice to meet you Lady McGonagall and Heir Potter."

"The feeling is mutual Heir...?" McGonagall inquired switching to a more regal tone when compared to her previous teaching one.

"Oh! You worked that out all by yourself," Harry could almost see the sarcasm in the boy's voice "well it be rude to not tell you I guess."

With an extravagant bow, the boy said with a sickly grin, "Corvus Rabastan."

Corvus was a head taller than Harry, his black hair was slicked back and the sides were cut low, his eyes were an enchanting grey, his face was harsh and aloof yet he wasn't pompous looking but rather he looked powerful.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy leaving with a swish of his clothes.

Five minutes later Harry was finished with his measurements and he asked to pick up his clothes at a later time.

As he walked out of the shop he began to question the professor.

"Why does everyone know who I am?"

"I promised the headmaster to leave that detail to him."

"Why does the headmaster have such control over my life?"

"Legally he is your magical guardian."

"He hasn't been much of a guardian."

"He is only your **_magical_** guardian Mr Potter he looks after you in the magical world alone."

"That makes no sense... Are you lying to me Professor?"

"Yes I was, but I must say you work things out quite quickly Mr Potter."

"I'll gladly take the compliment professor but you seem to have not answered my question."

The woman stared at Harry in conflict before finally saying.

"It saddens me to say that you must remain ignorant till the headmaster informs you," Harry glared at the woman his trust in her slowly slipping, "but I do hope you don't go looking too deep into our recent history Mr Potter, it can be quite dark."

Harry got the clue.

"Now it is time for the most important of our trip Potter."

With an appreciative smile, Harry said, "And what would that be Professor McGonagall."

With a mock-shock grin, the professor said, " Why its right in front of you."

Harry was gobsmacked, only just a bit earlier he was in front of the clothes shop and now he found himself at a shop he had no memory of walking too.

"Welcome to Ollivanders - the only place for the best of wands is Ollivanders, and you have to have the best of wands Mr Potter."

A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.

The shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.

A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that McGonagall sat on to wait.

Harry felt strange as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling.

For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly as he tried to compose himself.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter?"

It wasn't a question.

"You have your mother's eyes. Such a shame what happened, and great shame indeed. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm  
work."

Mr Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy when the man didn't blink.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes and Harry was in overdrive.

"And that's where..." Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a  
long, white finger, "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly.

"Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."

He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted McGonagall.

"Minerva! Lovely to see you! Nine and a half inches long, made of fir and a dragon heartstring core if my memory serves me well."

"Yes, Ollie."

"Well suited to Transfiguration proven by its owner of course."

"As much as I would like to catch up Ollie I'm sure Mr Potter would like to get his wand."

"Of course Minerva," he then turned to Harry with a kind smile **_and_** finally a goddamn blink.

"Well, now - Mr Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harry was shocked to notice that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own while Mr Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and, feeling foolish, waved it around a bit, but Mr Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -" Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr Ollivander.

"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

This wand was also snatched from him.

"It seems you work best with Pheonix cores," he then gave Harry another wand.

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr Ollivander was waiting for after all he had stopped waiting. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become, what a sick man.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple very strong and adaptable."

Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air  
and a stream of red and gold sparks of fire shot from the end like a sputtering engine, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.

McGonagall clapped and Mr Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering incessantly, "Curious... curious."

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

Mr Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.  
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother in magic gave you that scar."

Harry swallowed.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."

Now Harry had something else to find out.

"What will my speciality be Mr Ollivander?" Harry mustered up all of his courage to ask the man who genuinely frightened him.

"Hmm?" Was Ollivanders intelligent response.

"You seem to know-" Harry began but he was interrupted.

"Oh I understood the question, Mr Potter, I was just surprised that you showed interest," then with a small smile he said, "you will excel in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"May I ask how you know?" curiosity leaking from his voice, let's just hope this cat survives.

"Your brother-in-magic had a wand excelled in the Dark Arts so if you just hand your Pheonix core you would have as well," Harry shuddered at the thought, "but a mix of holly wood, known to be protective, makes it Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh! Do you happen to have something that goes into more depth about this subject?" Harry was at peak interest, this cat is pretty ballsy.

"Of course Mr Potter."

After wrapping both the wandlore book and Harry's wand he gave it to the young man.

"How much will both of these cost Mr Ollivander?" Harry said grabbing his money pouch.

"The wand will cost seven galleons and I would like you to keep the book for free," Harry was about to protest, "Mr Potter it is my duty as a wand maker to pass on the knowledge of wandlore to those who show even the most basic pieces of interest."

And with reluctance, Harry gave Ollivanders the seven gold coins and left the shop.

"What's is wrong Mr Potter?" said McGonagall when she had realised Harry was being deathly silent.

"Nothing," Harry lied not keeping eye contact. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote.

When they had left the shop Harry said, "Everyone seems thinks I'm special, all those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Hagrid, Mr Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things from me. I'm famous for something I don't even remember or know what I'm famous for."

"Well, Mr Potter don't you worry. You'll learn fast enough if my judgement of character doesn't fail me. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yourself and let people distinguish between tales and reality. I know it's hard. You've been singled out, and that's always hard no matter the age. But you'll have a great time at Hogwarts if you make the right choices in life - I did - I still do, as a matter of fact."

They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with  
nothing in them at all.

Even his cousin, who had never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these.

McGonagall had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and  
Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenge: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

"As much as I love your enthusiasm in wanting to learn I can't let you buy these books unless there is a reason," McGonagall said with a motherly smile.

"I would like to learn to defend myself," Harry replied in a smooth voice.

"I'm sure you already realise but some of these spells go beyond defence, Mr Potter."

"It may have slipped my mind."

McGonagall let out a laugh at the boy's _**innocent**_ face.

Harry 'secretly' bought two books on recent history that were recommended by an 'outside' source.

McGonagall also wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on your list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope so Harry let it go.

Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible  
smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotten cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined  
the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling.

While Mcgonagall asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).

And to Harry's surprise, McGonagall had bought the boy a book that talked about the importance of each step in potions and the ingredients importance, things like the reason for each number of stir.

The book was called; Steps to Succeed by Niklaus Neblak.

Outside the Apothecary, McGonagall checked Harry's list again.

"It seems we're done today, Mr Potter."

"Yes, it seems so Professor."

"Now we go buy you your accessories, Mr Potter."

"Accessories Professor?"

"Just simple things like a wand holster, a trunk for school, an owl or other pet and a subscription to Stork Foundation."

"Stork Foundation? What may that be Professor?"

"Stork foundation is a group that oversees the deliveries of books, newspapers and equipment."

"What is the best newspaper Professor."

"It saddens me to say the Daily Prophet but I advise you to **_never_** read an article by Rita Skeeter."

"Yes Professor," Harry said smiling at the woman's grimace when saying that.

Twenty minutes later, after they had gotten the subscription to Stork Foundation and ordered a charmed trunk, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes.

Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing.

"Professor you didn't have to."

"But it was my pleasure to Mr Potter," a smile placed with care on her face, "now remember to take good care of her and let her out to get your subscription to the Daily Prophet."

"I will professor."

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and McGonagall made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty and lifeless.

Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap.

"Here is your ticket, Mr Potter."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry then looked at the ticket, "I did not know there was a platform nine and three quarters."

"Ah! Yes, I forget Mr Potter that you are muggle raised," exclaimed McGonagall, "platform nine and three quarters can be inside a barrier at platform ten."

"Inside?"

"We can't have muggles noticing how a large group of children go on a train to a school that isn't registered can we."

"Makes sense," Harry then took his hand and brushed his hair with it, "does it have the same charm as the ones at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Of course but at a much more powerful level."

"Might I ask how these things are done."

"I'm sorry to say Mr Potter but wizarding law forbids the practice of magic unless you reach the age of majority."

Harry contemplated for a moment as he rocked back and forward on the train, his hand still grooming his hair, "So I can't legally use magic until I turn eighteen."

"Seventeen, Mr Potter."

"What about the magic I have been doing before this point Professor?"

"That was just accidental magic so the ministry could not punish you for that, they still can't."

"But there were times when I willingly wanted something done and it was done."

McGonagall was shocked, "May I ask what kind of things you did Mr Potter."

"Simple things really Professor," Harry replied avoiding eye contact, "making things levitate, moving things towards me and giving myself privacy."

Too shocked to notice the lack of eye contact, "As long as that is all you are doing Mr Potter then I'm sure the ministry will be unable to notice," McGonagall said.

"Is what I can do special?"

"Some **_adults_** are unable to do this Mr Potter."

"Is... That... So," Harry could now understand her shock.

They were now in Crewe and they began to walk towards the orphanage exchanging small talk.

And with a curt but happy goodbye, McGonagall left him at the orphanage's door leaving in a **pop**.

Taken by complete surprise he was immediately attacked by Matron and his friends as he opened the orphanage door.

"Oh, Harry did she do anything to you, are you hurt?" Matron said as she gently caressed the boy emulating human concern.

"No, she didn't Matron."

"It's Christine Harry," she scolded in an alluring voice, "now you must tell me all about your day."

And tell he did his story was an almost perfect retelling of the day and Matron and the others were the perfect listeners nodding when it was time to and filled with wonder when a listener should be filled with wonder.

"It was a tiring day Matr-," he began but the woman's glare made him grind out awkwardly, "Christine, so I must get some rest."

"Okay, Harry but I'll call you down when dinners ready, today we'll be having your favourite."

With a grateful smile, he walked to his room not planning on touching whatever poison she conjured from perfectly good ingredients.

Harry's voice was always what made the first loud noise of the day: "Up! Everyone get up!" The children woke up begrudgingly as was a habit. He began to rap on each person's door making sure each child had woken up.

After he had made sure all the children had at least got out of bed he made his way to the kitchen to dish out each person's food as he usually did.

The children heard him walking toward the kitchen and then almost instantaneously the sound of excited children marched around the orphanage at the prospect of Harry's cooking.

He rolled up his sleeves and he began to serve the breakfast he and the Matron had made. When the children began to flow into the room they thanked Harry for the food as they always did.

But at that moment something unusual happened. Instead of staying with the others to eat his food Harry took it upstairs with him.

Sam being the opportunistic prat he was he shouted, "You have to eat with the rest of us, Potter!" a venom in his voice, "What makes you think you're so special!?"

With a shake of his head, Harry replied, "As much as I love your company Sam I must be going I have to prepare for my new school year I have recently got an application for a private boarding school."

"How did **_you_** get into a private school."

With a sigh, Harry replied, "I used something you lack Sam, a brain."

And with that Harry walked away leaving the boy stunned in anger and the others giggling.

Harry kept to his room for the rest of the day, with his new owl for company and his previous company was confused at his new love of privacy and study, something that forced Matron to cook putting many orphans in hospital.

He had decided to call his owl Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic.

His school books were _**very**_ interesting, to say the least. Each of his school books held the basic foundation for their subject having just enough information to understand but never enough to comprehend.

The books that interested him the most were his Defence Against the Dark Arts book, his Charms and his Potions books.

His defence book allowed him to learn the strengths and weaknesses of monsters like Hags, Redcaps, Vampires and Werewolves.

He had also learnt the knockback jinx, smokescreen spell and the curse of bogies. Well to say he had learnt them was an overstatement on his part, he was able to push something back slightly, an ability he already had but the incantation made it more controlled, create a small mist, which could barely hide his hand, and he had no one to practice the bogies curse on, however, he had learnt the incantations and the wand movements of each spell so when he was allowed to use spells in school with his wand he would definitely be able to use each spell.

His Charms books were definitely the easiest to understand. He could do most of the spells in the book, the locking and opening charms came naturally to him as he had already been able to do them before, the levitation charm fit that group as well, the severing, mending and softening charms were too hard to be done in a day maybe next week he might be able to.

Then there was the fire-making spell for Herbology, something Harry wasn't surprised to find he could do almost immediately and at a higher level than was expected of him.

Then there were his Potions books. Harry was like a merman in water when it came to things that involved patience and brains also coupled with Steps to Succeed book and Harry was sure he'd be able to brew a potion better than anyone when school started.

* * *

AN:

● Sorry for not posting last week I was busy preparing for tests to make up for it I have anot her chapter that should be done soon.

● Also I tried doing a poll but I gave up midway through so the first seven people to tell me the pairings they want in DM win BTW I'll ignore the **_really_** obscure ones.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: OK I'd just like to thank treecko313 for being the only one to respond to my pairing request. Just wanted to say that this is a filler episode in all intents and purposes but I added some problems with Harry as a character that I have plans to flesh out.

* * *

The next week found Harry with a surprise in the mail.

After making food and ushering the others out of their rooms and into the comfort of the kitchen Harry went to get the mail.

He had received a letter from the wizarding world but that wasn't the strangest thing.

The letter was attached to a small parcel.

The packaging was small and inconspicuous among the other pieces of mail, another letter from that family looking to adopt, but on the packaging was the coat of arms of Gringotts and _**that**_ itself was inconspicuous.

Taking it into his room he began to rip into the parcel after reading the letter which was a short but polite letter telling him that he had been authorised to have these books.

Inside the packaging was a shelf. Inside the _**small**_ packaging was a **_book_** _ **shelf**_! Magic really must hate logic.

Luckily Harry hadn't opened the packaging in front of everyone or who knows how Sam would have reacted, but Harry was sure that the others reaction would not be a good one as well.

The books that he had gotten were two large books on Transfiguration and Charms, over seven hundred and fifty pages worth of knowledge on Charms, a five hundred page book on Transfiguration, a two hundred and ninety-page book on Defence Against the Dark Arts and a hundred page book on History of Magic. He had also gotten a hundred and fifty page journal on the basics of both Ancient Runes and Arithmacy.

After skimming over each book Harry noticed a notebook next to them that was in perfect condition.

Harry instantaneously decided to use the notebook as a way to record each important lesson from the books that his parents had given him.

"Dinner time!" Let's just hope that Matron made something good this time.

Harry walked down for dinner planning to go into more depth on the strange books he had gotten.

Harry guessed it must have been from his vaults and with a long rub of his messy hair Harry realised those books must have been from his vault.

That meant they were his parents.

Eating his food quickly Harry began the usual small talk, "So how have you guys been?"

The others were shocked, "We're fine Harry."

"Why so surprised?"

"Well you haven't been talking to us lately... I mean you **_have_** been pretty busy on your new school."

Thinking about it Harry had practically locked himself in his room... such behaviour would stop immediately, "Glad to say that I seem to be off my study high."

The others chuckled tension leaving the room.

"Don't lie **_Potter_** ," it seems Sam was unable to read the atmosphere, "just admit you can't keep up with your new _**'private school's'**_ curriculum."

This was a complete contrast to what Harry was going through, he had practiced how to do each spell to an insane level.

How? You may ask. Magical Theory of course.  
People don't give Magical Theory enough credit in the wizarding world it seems, after all it gave the Occams' Razor of awnsers.

Harry had been struggling with using his spells. Each spell had different levels of power and Harry had only gotten to the most basic of levels.

He didn't understand he had learnt each spell incantation yet he couldn't get the most from a spell without pushing excess magical energy but then the only book he had ignored for being too boring had proved it's worth.

Intent or in Harry's use willpower was the key to magic and was the magical energy Harry had used.

When Harry found out this he was able to rationalise each piece of magic he had already done and steamroll through the spells.

This led to Harry's obsession with increasing his tenacity by arduous exercises and late nights.

After all saying the incantation could only do the bare minimum of what is possible **_but_** with intent ** _plus_** incantations then you had mastered the spell to its limit hadn't you?

Ignoring Sams arrogant claims Harry continued to talk to the others but with David being his main focus.

He had nearly let it cross his mind in his rush to become better but David was a wizard too.

He would help the boy grow not because of a sense of duty but from the fact that David was one of his best friends who he had been ignoring for his own needs and that didn't sit well with Harry.

After lunch Harry decided to start a five-a-side tournament with the other children, after all, was it possible for his books to up and leave him... no... it wasn't, then Harry was sure they could wait.

The captains were Sam, Hannah and him. Four children decided not to play and seven were too young to play however that left one person extra and Sam being the _**adult**_ he was took that pwrson immediately and walked away smugly with one more player than the others.

But that detail still didn't stop Harry from winning the mini-tournament with prodigious ease.

After a tiring day and a fun dinner Harry decided to call it in.

When he got to his room he began to address the bookshelf in front of him and paticularly the notebook and a... **_diary_**.

As he studied the notebook he found a message from his parents appear suddenly in the front of the book.

 _Harry, if you are reading this Voldermort must have gotten to us._

{Voldermort} Harry thought, {who is this Voldermort.}

 _I made this notebook with the purpose that whatever you learnt in the school year could be easily revised at a later time if you took after me, and so that you wouldn't forget if you took after your father._

 _Harry you are going to need to be as powerful as you can, so your father and I made it our priority to get you the best books and journals before Voldermort attacked us._

At least Harry now knew what happened to his parents.

 _I hope you can study and master all your subjects by yourself rather than rely on what your father and I wrote on these dusty old book as that would do you more harm than good, so I requested of the goblins and our closest friends not to let you touch a book that you couldn't handle._

 _Harry, I also know that you may just want to burn through spells at an insanely fast rate, even your father and_ _I_ _had that problem, however I implore you to master a spell before learning a new one._

 _Each spell has ways in which the user can change it to suit their needs, for example, the Disarming Charm can just take away a persons' wand or it can have the added effect of forcing the wand to go into the opponent's hand._

 _And just so you know mastery goes into the depths of doing spells wordlessly not just quickly like your Godfather tells you._

Harry paused.

Who was this **_Godfather_**.

 _I would also like you to not start making your own spells until you have chosen Arithmacy as your elective otherwise you may put yourself and others in danger from an unstable spell._

 _So I hope you listen to me young man if you take after your father you may be my biggest headache yet._

 _From your Mother,_  
 _Lily Potter._

 ** _P.S_**.

 _I have to stop your father from killing you right now_ _I_ _swear he would make you an animagus at the age of seven and don't you dare try to become one before the age of sixteen_ _I_ _won't have my little boy become corrupted by Sirius Black and his good for nothing father._ _Oh no..._ _I_ _think the idiot just dropped you._

Harry was happy about the letter, infact Happy was too weak of a word... joyous... no. Pleased... no. Thrilled... no, but close. Estatic! Yes that would have to do.

Deep in Harrys prepubescent consienceness Harry knew it, this moment would stick with him till death came knocking at his door.

Another note appeared next to this one however this time it came from his Father.

 _There is so much more I would like to talk to you about and explain but I'm sorry to say that I have to keep many things from you as you are too young to understand the reasons why things had to be the way that they had to be._

 _I know this may anger you but you really are just too young to be burdened by this and by God I won't have my son being a brooder._

 _I placed protections on the notebook so that it could be kept safe from different types of damage a magical child could do to a book._

 _You don't have to worry about anything Harry as this was a notebook that was personally charmed by Lily Potter the greatest Charms expert in the whole world_ _and also by me, the greatest of the Marauders._

 _Your mother made it so that after each study lesson it would quiz you on what you learnt. Don't tell it the wrong information, your mother put in a little incentive to make sure you were thorough in your research. Also if you want a page quickly just write it at the bottom left of the page and it will immediately get you there._

 _I enchanted it to only react to your magical signature and in case someone apart from you looked at it they will only see gibberish. I also made it resistant to_ _all_ _kinds of damage so don't worry about dropping it on the bath._

Harry could almost see a chuckle come off those notes.

 _Harry ask Sirius for the Marauder password and then use it on my diary but if you_ _aren't_ _with Sirius for whatever reason then_ _I_ _left you a clue._

 _I hope you become the strongest wizard Harry._

 _P.S_ _._

 _As much_ _as_ _I_ _love her don't become like your mother one of her already hurts my brain two might leave me brain dead._

 _From Your Father_  
 _James Potter_

Another great memory damn these Potters really know how to pull a dragons heartstring as they say... Harry was keeping that one.

Harry had found it became easier to make notes on his subjects when he used this book rather than his school books as they were getting too full with scribbles and that was from only his first week with them.

A bonus was that they could be kept safe from different types of damage a magical child could do to a book meaning he could practice his spells on it and it would barely be affected, even Incendio would do not damage but it was still great practice to strain and grow his willpower continuously by holding the spell.

It was definitely a notebook that was personally charmed by Lily Potter, a Charms expert if her journal was anything to go by, as each of his fathers descriptions were met and with the added bonus of a ward that made anyone but him ignore the book.

He had also been given a template timetable that he could use to revise by his mother, but Harry planned to tone them down, he loved books but he wasn't obsessed like his mother, and also a book on how to improve memory storage his father had given him; Occlumency for Little NEWTS by Queenty Quoins.

His fathers "diary" was his most head racking achievement. In reality, it was a book that was charmed with the password 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good', something he had to decipher using morse code and other kinds of knowledge that required a trip to the Library, multiple ones in fact.

Outside were details you would expect from an actual diary for example the pranks he did, who each Marauder liked, and how pretty Lily is, however on the inside were details of his adventures and how to do the Maureders fun little pranks which Harry promised to only use for **educational** purposes... after all blatantly copying their pranks would get him caught and Harry **_wasn't_** getting caught.

There were even spells that the Marauders had made; Moonys' were the most useful, Padfoot and Prongs were more fun while Wormtail didn't contribute.

Harry decided to go to London on the seventeenth of August, he didn't want to make it seem like he was getting special treatment so he decided to set up an activity the others could do while he 'stayed home'.

For the other children he had funded a tour around London to the museum, Thames and a souvenier shop using money from his personal account to fund the trip and give each child at least fifty pounds to use.

He had taken David, who needed to go, and Hannah, who forced herself on them, to Diagon Alley.

David was enchanted and Hannah nearly fainted.

When they went to Gringotts, Harry transferred two hundred galleons to a trust vault for when David started school.

He had taken the books that didn't repeat information he already knew, put books David would need for school next year in his vault and gave childrens story books to Hannah who had immediately thought of the brilliant idea to basically copy the story, with a few minor changes, and sell it to non-magical people... Harry could only shake his head at one of his best friends.

Harry bought Hannah a ginger kneazle, she named it Minnie, and had bought David a grey owl he named Monotone.

Harry also got his trunk as well; dragonhide, oak handle, featherweight charms and seven compartments.

After a satisfying day, where even Sam was bearable, Harry went to sleep deciding to train at a later time.

Harry was sick of his father and Padfoot harping on about this Quidditch.

So today he decided to take a break from rigorous training and decided to go watch the Lancashire Quidditch team go against Dolly Wellies with only David coming with him as only magical people were allowed to watch.

He told Matron that he was just going to buy some things he had not bought on his previous trip and after wearing down her refusals Harry and David left.

Harry had bought normal tickets although he could have gotten more expensive ones but Harry wouldn't want to draw attention to himself.

After the Leaky Cauldron incident he had taken to hiding his easily identifiable scar when he came into contact with the wizarding world.

Harry was pleased to say it was a fun match and he was even mire glad to say that he was now an avid supporter of Lancashire whose play was better but their sub-par and even though they lost the match by seventy points like his father once was Harry was obsessed with Quidditch.

Harry had successfully brewed his first potion, a pepper-up potion, to be exact.

He could have started earlier but he was not going to do so with below average instructions that Potion writers used to differentiate between those who could do potions and those who excelled at Potions.

He had wtitten the improved ingredient list and the improved instructions on how to make each potion in his first year book they would also be written at the back of his notebook, his father had charmed it that anything do with Potions went straight to the back saying something about not wanting to raise another Snivellus.

Speaking of his notebook Harry was glad to say that he had completed everything he would learn in all first-year curriculum and am moving onto the second-year books on most subjects but third year on Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Transfiguration and Magical Theory.

Harry had also decided to buy new Ancient Runes and Arithmacy books to so far he was regretting buying such advanced books.

He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased.

Soon Harry found himself staring at the ceiling and found himself slipping into sleep, something he had to get after all he was going to Kings Cross Station tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Yay! An early upload and its the longest upload! Oh I spoil you mortals now bow at my kindness Mwahahaha! Mwahahaha! Mwahahaha!

Anyway this is practically the whole trip to Hogwarts and the next chapter will be what's remaining and the whole of the sorting ceremony, hope you enjoy it... also I genuinely can't believe I have over a thousand views on this story, this is so sad can we get the review count up to 2!?.

I'll stop talking to the people who read ANs you guys are an endangered species.

* * *

CHAPTER SIX

Harry woke at four o'clock the next morning and was way too excited to go back to sleep now matter how early or how little sleep he had.

He got up and pulled on his clothes, his non-magical clothes, because he didn't want to walk into a station in his wizard's robes looking like a proper ponce- he'd change on the train.

He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then walked out of the room, he cooked breakfast for everyone as he always did with Matron but today he decided to let Matron rest.

While making breakfast he heard the creakings of children waking up and coming down a noise he had rarely ever heard being done without his prompting.

"You must be a mind reader!" Shouted one of the children, Ben, if he remembered correctly.

"No idea what you're talking about."

"How did you know we were planning to make you breakfast," Hannah asked.

So that was what they were doing, "I guess my Spidey-sense was tingling."

It seems James, our resident nerd, was the only one to get, "Hey! We're not that bad... Matron maybe but not us!"

Harry gave a little grin, "If you want to help I guess I can't stop you."

Two hours later at six o'clock, Harry's **_'briefcase'_** had been loaded into the Red Dragons Taxi.

Harry had gotten a Runes shop to put an illusion and shrinking rune on his trunk so as to not cause people to give him strange looks.

Harry had tried talking Matron into letting him go to King's Cross by himself but she put on this really stubborn look that screamed her point across to him.

"Harry..." Hannah began.

"You going to give me my card know?"

"You're definitely a mind reader aren't you?" She said as David handed him the card.

In a joking tone, "How did you know, are you _**also**_ a mind reader?"

She just chuckled and gave him a hug, in fact to all the others Harry seemed very huggable today but of course Sam just turned his nose up at them.

"I hope you-" David began.

"Of course I'll have fun." Harry finished.

Giving an exasperated sigh David said, "See you in the winter holidays."

"I'll bring a few books for you." And with a smile Harry got in the taxi.

And after a heartwarming goodbye wave they set off towards the Crewe train station and then towards Kings Cross trainer station.

They reached King's Cross at half past seven.

The taxi driver dumped Harry's briefcase onto the curb and wheeled away from the station in record time after he had gotten his money.

"So you are coming with me then?"

"Of course." Matron said in a final sounding tone.

Harry wouldn't have thought this kind but Harry now knew better than to take her actions face value.

"Well, here we are, Harry. Platform nine - platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"

Her words were opening and inviting but the context was condescending.

However she was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.

"Maybe it really was a trick by one of your relatives friends, oh what cruel people come here Harry," It seemed both parties were aware of the divide and one was quickly trying to close it.

"Don't pretend Christine," the spite in his voice seemed alien to his mouth yet expected to the recipient.

"How did you find out Harry," her demanding tone was unusual to be heard yet it was as like water, freely flowing.

However Harry felt no need to awnser her and walked away into platform barrier.

A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, ten O'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three- Quarters on it, Harry had done it.

Looking at the tracks Harry realised the train wasn't here yet, so he stood patiently with the other people who had come early.

Looking at the watch he saw that the time was seven fifty five and looking at the others he saw a bushy haired girl and her normal looking family, a blonde family of four looking at the bushy haired girl in contempt, a dark skinned single parent family, a skittish boy walking through the barrier with his... Grandmother walking, no, dragging him along and at the edge stood the boy from the shop Corvus Rabastan.

Next to Corvus stood a tall, light skinned man with luxurious clothes that compensated porverty, he had the same slicked back hair as Corvus but his was a murky blonde and his eyes didn't have the colour Corvus had but it was equally as glazed.

Harry heard the rumblings of a train arriving at a station. Looking at his watch Harry recorded eight o'clock as the time that the train arrived. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with a small amount of people people. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while pets of every color and kind began to hoot and screech in annoyance, it took Harry seconds to placate Hedwig.

Harry saw the blonde boys' mother waving them off as the bushy haired girls family gave their daughter the biggest hug they could give, one half crying while the other half cried, the dark skinned parent gave her children a cold hug and immediately left while her daughter lead her brother inside the train, the skittish boy seemed to be complaining about losing something and with a wave of his grandmothers wand a frog came flying and Corvus...

Corvus gave his father and order as if he were a pawn and his father replied as if he were nothing more than a footstool.

Harry watched each family interact and felt a longing that he immediately buried under his great amount of excitement. He didn't know where he was going to but it had to be as good as what he had already seen in Diagon Alley.

Harry stepped into the scarlet train of marvelous wonder and began to trudge into the back of the train.

Harry pressed on through the silence until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train hopefully he wouldn't be gawked at by too many people.

He put Hedwig inside first and then started to heave his briefcase onto the compartment holding area.

After settling down he let Hedwig out if her cage to give her some free space, after playing with her for a short while he whipped out his fathers diary and began to lose himself in what he was reading... or so he planned to do but his compartment door was opened by the skittish boy.

"Ah! S-s-sorry, I'll l-leave now," the boy began to close the door.

Taking pity Harry said, "Don't worry about it, sit if you'd like to."

As if never shown kindness before the boy said with wide eyes, "A-a-are you sure?"

Looking at the harmless boy in front of him Harry said, "I did say it didn't I."

"T-thank you," the innocent smile on his face was worth the hassle of someone knowing he was Harry Potter.

Thinking of simple conversation starters, Harry asked, "So, what's your name."

"Neville Longbottom," Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Do you happen to be related to a Frank Longbottom?"

"Y-yeah, he's my dad," then Neville looked at Harry in confusion, "did you know them?"

"Not personally, but my father wrote about them in his journals."

"Oh... mind i-if I ask you who your father is."

Preparing for the inevitable gaping Harry said, "James Potter."

Credit to the boy he didn't take long to figure it out, "You're Harry Potter!"

"Yes, I do believe that is my name."

Harry was expecting a fanboy but was surprised to see Neville wasn't acting like that but he seemed to be contemplating something.

"What's wrong Neville."

He became even more skittish but after a second or five he exclaimed, "I-i-i-i'm sorry about what happened to your parents!"

To say Harry was shocked to the core was an understatement, "Really, why?"

"My gran told me they were nice people and even then no one deserves to die."

Harry smiled, this was the first person, outside of McGonagall, to not smother him in **_'kindness'_** and Harry put the boy into his top ten people for emphasising with him.

"Thank you, not many people are like you know."

Now everyone in the room was shocked as Neville had never really had anyone to call him special, "I-it's just because I know how you feel, I-i can s-sympathise with you."

Knowing this was a delicate situation Harry eased, "Are your parents like mine?"

Neville flinched but continued, "No... but they practically are."

Seeing his flinch and vague awnser Harry decided, "Let's play a game of Exploding Snap."

Happy at the change of conversation Neville said, "Sure! But I'm pretty bad at this isn't that right Tre..."

"What's wrong?"

"I've lost Trevor! Uncle Algie is going to kill me!"

"Is Trevor your frog!"

"Yeah, My uncle gave him to me as a gift."

With a friendly smile Harry said, "Then we better go and find him! Come along to the toilets!"

"T-the toilet!"

"Of course toads natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests."

"I guess it makes sense then."

"So let's go to the girls toilets already!" Harry shouted with mock gusto.

Looking mortified Neville said, "How about let's not go?"

Giving a fake pout Harry replied, "Come on, you know you want to."

Noticing the joking manner Neville shook his head, "Let's just go."

"To the girls bathroom? I was joking you know, but if you're that kind of guy I won't judge," this just caused Neville to walk away faster.

"See you later Hedwig!" A dismissive hoot was his reply.

True to fact they did find Trevor in the toilet but... it was in the girls toilet.

"Would this happen to be yours?" Asked a obviously miffed dark skinned girl.

Both boys looked at Trevor flailing helplessly.

Both boys looked at the older girl, who was beginning to draw her wand, in front of them.

Then both boys looked each other in the eye.

Finally they bolted away from the girl, scrambling to get to their carriage.

"She'll give it back right?" Neville asked as they sat in their seats.

"Want to ask?" Harry's look was challenging.

With a loud gulp Neville said, "Not if Merlin was beside me all the way there."

And then they both gave a hearty laugh.

"So who is this then?" Neville asked in a conversational manner.

"This is Hedwig," the owl hooted as if demanding more, "The greatest owl in all of Europe and some say all the world."

Neville gave a chuckle, "Nice to meet you Hedwig."

"So how about that game of Exploding Snap."

The first game went to Harry, then the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and... well you get the rest.

After the third loss Neville seemed to have gained this depressed aura and each loss seemed to grow that aura.

Noticing Neville's bout of depression Harry asked, "Want to practice some spells?"

Neville brightened, "Yeah! Let me show you something cool," and with a quick draw and wave of his wand Neville shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Slowly an Exploding Snap card began to float up, "That's not the best part yet Nentiosa," and then the card began to spin in a mad whirl.

"Where did you learn that?" Both boys whipped their heads around to find a bushy haired girl in their opened compartment door.

Neville stopped his magic in shock and with a blush.

"Why do you care?" Harry snapped at the invader.

"Harry!" Neville chastised.

"What? She just barged in and expects things from us," Harry looked at the girl and noticed her hurt, "Fine maybe I was too harsh but she has to say she was sorry for jumping in like that."

"I am, I was just curious where you learnt that."

Noticing the situation had diffused Neville said, "From my cousin Albert, so ummm what's your name?"

"Hermione Granger, nice to meet you," she said with an extended arm.

"Neville Longbottom," he took her hand and his cheek dusted pink, "He's Harry."

"Nice to meet you Neville and you too Harry."

There was an awkward silence.

"Wanna play Exploding Snap with us?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Neville but the boy seemed preoccupied.

"Is that a wizard game? Oh I've never played it before, is it any fun? Do you mind if I watch it before I play or would it be better if I learnt it while playing?" Harry was shocked that came out with only one breath but Neville looked even more preoccupied.

"It'll be better if you watched first, you'll see why."

To Harry's surprise, and Neville's well hidden one, Neville won, it seems his preoccupation gave a boost in skill.

"It really is quite a dangerous game... but I wouldn't mid giving it a go." Neville's estatic face as she sat by him couldn't have been more perfect.

After a few games Harry began to warm up to the girl but mostly for Neville's sake really.

A whistle sounded.

"Look at the time the train is about to leave, I have to get changed."

Harry was surprised, "A bit early don't you think?"

"You can never be too early, Harry," Her voice was in an attempted teacher which Harry found quite funny and Neville practically burst out laughing.

Smiling as she left, Hermione closed the door.

"Someones in love."

"W-what!? N-n-no I'm-m not!" Neville shouted, his face painted with red.

"Of course, I believe you," Harry's smug grin told Neville otherwise, "So excited for Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, but I bet you five galleons that I'm going to be the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough, I mean I did."

"Wait, what?"

"I came from a muggle orphanage."

"Really!?"

"Yep! Didn't even know that I was a wizard until McGonagall told me."

"Now that's a surprise."

"It's not that much of one is it?"

"Well everyone always thought that you lived in a massive castle with hundreds of house elves."

"It's those books people write about me isn't it," Harry shook his head at the thought of living in a castle his head would be the size of the moon, "Anyway what makes you think you're going to be the worst from what I can see you can cast pretty well."

"For most of my life my family thought I was a squib... they even had to get a custom wand just so I could be able to cast properly."

"What's wrong with custom wands? From what I read they are known to help cast stronger spells."

"That's what's wrong with them. You know how wands choose their owners?"

"Yeah."

"Well to pureblood families like mine and yours it means that no Ollivander wand finds you worthy of it and Ollivander is the best wand maker."

"That's silly."

"It isn't, it's because everyone thinks Ollivander has Seeing abilities so he makes wands before hand for powerful wizards."

"So they think that if you don't have an Ollivander wand then you aren't a strong wizard?"

"Basically."

"That's pretty biased," Harry then walked over to his trunk and past Hedwig, "Wanna play chess."

"Yeah!"

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London.

Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past and outwitting each other in chess.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't brought any lunch, leapt to his feet, but Neville's reaction was much more extreme than Harry's as he lightly shoved his friend out of the way. Harry went out into the corridor clutching his rib in mock pain.

He had never really spent lots of money on candy when he was at the orphanage as he didn't want to be a bad influence on the others, but now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver and a taste for wizarding sweets that he had cultivated over summer break he was ready to buy as many Mars Madness as he could carry - but the woman didn't have enough Mars Madness to fill his cravings either that or she was hiding them.

However she did have Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, Metamorphosis Muffins, Crazy Cookies, Calming Cupcakes, Never-Flat Soda and a number of other strange things.

Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Harry and Neville brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat, while Harry got Hedwig a bag of owl treats he had in his trunk.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Neville, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty, after swallowing, "didn't have breakfast, Gran wanted me to be here before anyone else."

Picking up a chocolate frog, and quickly chomping it down before it could hop away, Harry looked at what card he had gotten.

"Who'd you get?"

"Albus Dumbledore"

"Did you have him already? "

"No," said Harry, "But I do have Merlin, Gellert Grindelwald, Celestina Warbeck, Peter Pettigrew Herpo the Foul and Gilderoy Lockhart.

"I got all the ones you have but I'm missing Herpo."

Harry turned over his card and read:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Harry turned the card back over and saw that  
Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"I wonder... where do Chocolate Frog pictures go"

"One of the greatest myster-" But Neville never got to finish.

Three boys entered, the middle one was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he was giving to Neville.

"Is it true?" he said. "I've heard that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickest people Harry had ever seen and looked extremely foreboding standing on either side of the pale boy, like they were bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Neville gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all about your vegetable parents."

Neville stood up to punch the blonde git but the two blocks of fat stood in front of him.

"What are you going to do about it fatso," he then looked at Harry, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

Standing up slowly Harry said, "Prove to me you're the best Malfoy."

Everyone looked at Harry in shock, "How so?" Asked Malfoy.

"Wizarding duel, right here right now."

"Your seconds going to be Longbottom you know."

"Neville's ten times the person you are."

"Fine! Crabbe is my se-" Malfoy began angrily.

"No I'll be your second Draco."

Harry looked at the new voice and saw Corvus Rabastan.

"Hello Harry."

"Corvus."

"You two know each other?" Inquired Draco and Neville at the same time.

"We are acquainted."

"Fine then, let's do this."

The six boys walked outside into the hallway and Harry noticed that a pug faced girl and a dark skinned boy were with Corvus and the blonde git.

Harry and Draco stood back to back.

"One!" Shouted Neville and Corvus.

Draco and Harry took a step forward.

Harry really hoped Draco hadn't learnt any powerful spells.

"Two!" Shouted Neville and Corvus.

Draco and Harry took two steps forward.

Going over what he had learnt Harry noticed that people were beginning to file out of their compartments.

"Three!" Shouted Neville and Corvus.

Draco and Harry took three steps forward.

Closing his weak Occlumency walls Harry began to calm down.

"Begin!" Shouted Neville and Corvus.

Draco and Harry whipped around and began to attack.

Harry silently casted, " _Incarcerou_ s, _Expelliarmus,_ _Depulso_ _._ "

Before Draco could even cast his Bat-Bogey hex, he found himself bound, wandless and flying through the carriage hallway.

While everyone was shocked still at the display, Corvus began his attack.

"Bombarda!" Corvus shouted.

Harry ducked and the spell hit the window.

" _Stupefy_ _._ " Harry countered.

Using sharp reflexes Corvus deflected it.

"Expelliarmus! Impedimenta!" Corvus replied.

Harry's wand was snatched out of his hand but he dodged the second spell by jumping towards Draco's wand.

Grabbing it he shouted, "Incendio!"

Noting the stream of fire rushing towards him Corvus casted, "Protego!"

Everyone watched in awe and fear as Harry's flames licked at Corvus' shield as it tried to overpower it, while Corvus' shield pushed back the flames as it tried to push forward.

"As a Member of Authority I call off this duel!" Both boys looked at the voice, not finishing their spells, and saw a ginger haired older boy.

Upon finding the badge with a golden P on it both boys looked at each other nodded in acceptance and finished their spells at the same time.

Not liking being interrupted Corvus asked the red-head, "What was your reason for interrupting a duel **_Prefect_**."

"Endangerment and harm of minors," he said pointing to a student who had glass stuck in her arm and another who lay on the floor unconscious, "Now what are your reasons for this duel."

Harry replied, "Malfoy insulted my friends honor and blood so I challenged him to a duel, he accepted, I beat him and then I faced his second."

"You two are lucky that the term has not officially started or I would have you expelled."

"Be lucky we listened to you **_Weasley_** term hasn't started so I technically don't have to obey Prefects," Corvus countered not happy at being chastised by someone around his age group.

"I'll be reporting this incident to the teachers."

"You do that," Harry said dragging Neville into his compartment and throwing Draco's wand to Corvus.

Slamming the door, causing Hedwig to hoot angrily at being woken, Harry collapsed on the sofa.

"I thought you weren't raised by wizard's."

"I wasn't."

"Then how did you do that," Both boys whipped around to see Hermione, "Sorry for not knocking."

Neville like a loyal puppy replied, "Don't worry it's fine."

Hermione smiled at Neville, "Thank you," Neville began to transfigure into a tomato.

Trying to turn attention away from himself Neville questioned, "So Harry, how did you do that."

The two interrogators just watched Harry stare into space, Hermion began to get tired of Harrys lack of speaking and swatted his arm lightly but with enough strength to cause Harry to jolt up and begin to search for an enemy.

Looking half amused, half irritated, Hermione inquired once more, " _ **How did you do those spells?**_ "

Harry said, while sweating, "I got most of those spells from a book my father wrote and the others were simple spells you could learn if you bought a duelling book."

"Yeah but how did you do it?" Neville jumped in, "Minors aren't supposed to do spells at home so how did you do them? In fact how did you do them silently?"

"Oh! I get what you want," Harry said, "Do you know what wandless magic is?"

"Wandless magic is the performance of magic without the use of a wand. Such magic is often difficult to perform, and could have unexpected or volatile results if not done properly. Therefore, it could only be reliably accomplished by witches and wizards of great skill."

"Hermione I asked if you knew not if you could teach me," Neville chuckled but stopped when Hermione gave him a small glare that had a red tinge, "Well ever since I was a kid I was able to control my magic without a wand, so using a wand just increases my control over it so I'm able to do spells, when using a wand, silently."

"Wait! Does that mean the Ministry can't sense wandless magic?" Asked Hermione.

"No," Harry replies, "They track spells using wands and the damage caused so as long as you don't use a wand and don't hurt a non-magical you're perfectly fine."

"That... makes sense."

"So is that all I'm feeling pretty drained," Harry said as he began to address the feeling of drowsiness that came whenever he used silent magic.

At this Hermione began to shift nervously, pondering a question, "What's wrong 'Mione?" Neville enquired.

Hermione blushed at the nickname but didn't complain, "Ummm... do you mind if I sit by you guys, the people I'm sitting with are annoying."

Neville swiftly gave an awnser, "Of course!" He then looked to Harry who just gave a tired nod.

When Hermione began to get her stuff Neville went to go with her.

"Nev get changed before you go."

"Why Harry?"

"You don't plan on getting changed while she's in our compartment do you?"

And with that Harry and Neville changed while Hermione waited patiently outside.

When they came back, with Neville lugging Hermione's trunk, Harry fully recovered began to prepare to cast a ward.

"What are you doing Harry?" Hermione sounded out.

"Just a simple protection ward."

"Aren't wards really advanced?"

"Not this one," Harry replied, "In fact if you want want we can all do it right now."

"Really!?" Neville asked incredulously and with a nod from Harry he brightened up.

"What does it do?" Hermione said while she and Neville got up and pulled out their wands.

"It basically makes Colloportus and Alohomora into password oriented spells."

"Huh?" Neville said pointing his wand at the compartment door mimicking Harry and Hermione.

"The door will only close and open with a password."

"Ohhhh..., I'm not very good with passwords."

"Don't worry Nev we are only going to use it for today."

"How do we do it then?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione you wave your wand in a box shape, Neville you casts the spells while Hermione is drawing the box and I'll power it."

"Does this mean you needed other people for it."

"No, but it's easier and faster," Harry raised his wand, "Now let's begin."

Hermione began to draw a box slowly enough for Neville to cast the spells and Harry's wand kept spouting out golden flames at the door.

Noticing the steps were completed Harry began to say the password, "The new Marauders."

And with a golden flash of light the ward was completed.

"Who're the Marauders."

"They're a group my father made Nev."

"Oh! What did they do?" Hermione asked.

"They did the greatest pranks in the world! Let me indoctr- I mean show you what cool stuff the-."

One look from Hermione told him no such thing was going to happen.

* * *

AN: So what did you think was it nice was it **_Cyka_** anyway I really want to know what people think of the storyx because if I'm left to my own devices any longer I might make a threefold relationship between Harry, _ and Corvus.

Speaking of Corvus he was the person who told the Slytherins Harry was on the train since I didn't make it clear how Draco knew

Also I want to point out there will be some Weasley bashing but only to specific characters I'll tell you whose exempt:

■ Ron (keep an eye on him *cough* eye *cough*)

■ The twins (for reasons I'll make clear later on)

■ Arthur (I can sympathise with a man who is whipped)

■ AND Ginny (only on some occasions)

Also a big hint for this story is aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2F0dHBhZC5jb20vdXNlci9QeXJvaHVi

Here a little something for people to solve, enjoy!

BTW- You don't have to read it to get the clue


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Welcome to Pyrohubs wee- what? It's not weekly? Okay. Welcome to Pyrohubs whenever I feel like it News. Today we are reporting that Pyrohub has posted another piece of shit. Apparently his longest yet. People are expecting this to be his excuse for being so fucking late. Let's go to Bob our field reporter.

B: Thanks woman I did under her desk. So Mr Pyrohub why are you so late?

P: I'd rather no-

B:Awnser the question.

P:I was revis-

B: You know we're the same person right?

P:Fine I wasn't feeling like writing a story and if I did you would be having to read shit.

B:We already are. Back to the story

* * *

"Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad."

"I'll think you'll do better in Ravenclaw... I'll probably be in Hufflepuff, my whole family thinks I will be anyway."

"Keep your chin up Nev, you'll be in Gryffindor with me, bet you five galleons that."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course he is Neville, you just have to be confident."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"So... how do we get sorted?"

"Dunno Gran wouldn't tell me... said I had to find out myself."

"Me neither... my parents journals didn't have anything on that."

"Do you think it'd be something dangerous?"

"Of course not! I think it might be a test."

"I bet we have to fight a dragon."

"A dragon!?"

"Don't listen to him Neville, he's obviously joking."

"Not a very good one..."

"I thought it was comedy gold."

"Gold must have lost its value then," Neville said with an unhappy look.

"Now that was funny," Hermione said with a smile that silenced Neville's grumbling.

"I see... gang up on poor Harry Potter Day, is it?"

The train hauled itself onwards towards its destination as the trio of pre-teens continued their meaningless chattering.

A voice reverberated through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Finally the train slowed down and finally stopped, lurching forwards.

Students jostled their way toward the door through packed crowd and out onto a tiny, dark platform.

Pushing his way out, Harry shivered in the embrace of the cold night air.

Slowly a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, towering over children of all years, then Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads and his figure parted the crowds.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling in the dark, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path, quite as silence itself.

It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees guiding and surrounding the path in rows upon rows.

Nobody spoke even the most basic of words, too unsettled by the foreboding scenery.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder in a tourist-informing kind of way, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had jared open suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake.

Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle of old with many turrets and towers looming over the moon and peering over the heads of tall trees.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting patiently in the water by the shore, the rickety boats looked homely.

Harry, Neville and Hermione were followed into their boat by a bespectacled girl, who introduced herself as Sally-Anne Perks but immediately turned away to look at the castle impatiently.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding gracefully across the lake, which was as smooth as glass yet just as insubstantial.

Silence was prevalent, hanging over the group of students, as everyone was occupied staring up at the great castle overhead.

It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood, proud of its size.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.

They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto sizeable rocks and measly pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands.

"I completely forgot about him..."

"Don't worry I did as well."

"Where was he anyway?"

"With us?"

"But how?"

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock following after Hagrid's large lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the engulfing shadow of the castle.

They walked quickly up a flight of cobblestone steps and crowded around the humongous, Oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

This caused Neville to blush and shift back and forth silently.

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once as if this were a fast paced play. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

With this she pulled the door wide open and beckoned the students in.

The entrance hall was so big that Harry was sure you could have fit the whole of the Orphanage in it... Twice!

The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor the aura she exuded caused them to remain silent in their procession.

Harry could hear the monotonous drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber split off from the hall.

They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points.

At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on a ginger haired boys smudged nose.

Harry tried to flatten his hair but it was a hereditary disease for it to be such a mess.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he heard asked of the ginger haired boy who stood two people to his left.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking, well I hope so..."

Harry could hear Neville's audible gulp.

No one was talking much except Hermione, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.

Although Harry was suprised at her large repertoire of spells, he tried very hard not to listen to her less he become nervous

Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed like a bunch of girls, bear in mind most of them were girls... most of them.

"What the -?"

He gasped.

So did the people around him who hadn't screamed... or fainted.

About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall.

Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided seamlessly across the room talking to one another in debating tones and hardly glancing at the first years.

They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? Maybe even more! He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling kindly around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind Neville and Hermione while he stood in front of a boy with sandy blonde hair, with the ginger standing behind him.

They walked out of the chamber in a chaotic orderliness, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry had never even imagined such a strange and yet splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting.

These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting and each resident were glowering at the students.

Professor McGonagall led the first years up, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns shinning in the flickering candlelight.

Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.

Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

He heard Hermione whisper to Neville, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside."

" Really! How do you know that?"

"I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was hard to imagine that there was a ceiling present there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens welcoming in the night sky.

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat.

This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing a wizard would learn - noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence.

Then the hat twitched.

A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" The ginger whispered to his friend, a brown haired boy. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll, I read three bloody books on trolls for no bloody reason!"

Harry. smiled weakly.

Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to fight a troll single-handedly, but...

"I wish we could have tried it on without everyone watching us." Neville said.

"The hat is asking way too much if you ask me; I don't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment... If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for me."

This caused those around him to give an almost silent chuckle but a swift glare from McGonagall told them it was much too loud.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause -

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

A chubby girl with red hair.

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

A black haired boy with glasses.

"Ravenclaw!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

A pretty girl with brown eyes and blonde hair.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

A short girl with shinny blonde hair and a slightly pudgy face. Walking towards the hat with minimum stumbling she placed the hat on her frizzy blonde hair.

"Gryffindor!"

The table went wild. While the other houses were polite yet a sliver of enthusiastic at a Sorting Gryffindor, Harry was happy to see, went ballistic as if they were holding themselves back all this time and this was the release they needed.

"Bulstrode, Millicent."

A black-haired girl with a heavy, jutting jaw.

"Slytherin!"

"Corner, Michael!"

A boy with black hair and light skinned.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Cornfoot, Stephen!"

A boy with murky blonde hair.

"Hufflepuff!"

"Crabbe, Vincent!"

When the name was called out Harry saw the large boy he had seen next to that Malfoy kid. Harry was sure the boys heavy lumbering could be heard all across the school.

"Davis, Tracey!"

An inconspicuous girl who bowed her head low while walking but Harry couldn't understand why. She looked better than the previous first years that had been Sorted.

"Slytherin!"

Harry clapped politely like he had for the others.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

A boy with curly hair and a nervous scowl.

"Hufflepuff!"

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

The sandy haired blonde behind Harry walked towards the hat with uniform that was scruffy and untidy.

"Gryffindor!"

"Goldstein, Anthony!"

Goldstein was light skinned with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Goyle, Gregory!"

"Crabbe must have had a long lost twin because there's another lump that's walking towards the hat." Harry whispered to Neville eliciting a snigger from Neville and a glare from Hermione.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Taking a deep breath in Hermione walked as confidently as she could and gently placed the hat on her head.

The hat and Hermione seemed to be having a debate on which house she should be in but after an obviously heated conversation the Sorting Hat shouted...

"Ravenclaw!"

Looking at the slightly stubborn look on Hermione's face as she glared at the Hat, Harry remembered how she wanted to be in Gryffindor but immediately stopped caring when he saw how enthusiastic Neville's clapping has become and he made sure that Neville realised it as well.

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

A blonde stunner walked up to the stool. If Harry was able to see the future he would definitely see her as a model.

She walked with a touch of grace and put on the hat with that grace. When she sat and prepared to be sorted Harry could see on her face that her decision was already made... and so was the Hats.

"Slytherin!"

Harry was expecting polite clapping from the hose of snakes but was not expecting to hear almost enthusiastic clapping.

It was subtle but still there and noticeable to Harry, it was as if the house was showing her more respect than previous Sortings.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

"Good luck Nev."

"Thanks Harry."

Neville walked as confidently as he could but noticing the piercing gaze of the students in the Hall he began to blush and stumble.

Putting the hat on as quickly as possible, he sat head ducked down.

He took the longest out of all the Sortings so far, he sat shaking his head while the Sorting Hat became more and more irritated for twelve minutes.

In irritation the Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

The whole hall breathed a sigh of relief while Gryffindor intermingled it with happy clapping while Harry sent Neville a smile.

"Macmillan, Ernest!"

A stout-looking boy with blondish hair.

"Hufflepuff!"

"Malfoy, Draco!"

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. Harry though had found himself a Severus Snape to his James Potter.

"Nott, Theodore!"

Theodore was weedy, stringy, weakly built and he could also considered to be a bit rabbity in appearance by some people but not Harry promise!

"Slytherin!"

"Parkinson, Pansy!"

Harry, when giving her a glance over, thought of Pansy as hard-faced beauty but he would not go out with anyone who had a permanent scowl on their faces.

"Patil, Padma!"

An attractive girl with dark eyes and long dark hair.

"Ravenclaw!"

The brown haired boy who was friends with the ginger was almost as enthusiastic as Neville with Hermione.

"Patil, Parvarti!"

An attractive girl with dark eyes and long dark hair.

'Twins, huh.' Harry thought.

"Gryffindor!"

"Perks, Sally-Anne!"

Harry saw the glasses girl walk up to the hat slowly and he scowled. He was a friendlyperson but if someone slighted him, even slightly, Harry grew a nasty grudge.

"Slytherin!"

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward using the tips that his father had given him for "walking with style", unknowingly someone was glaring daggers at his back at his actions, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"He's pretty cute."

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.

Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat.

He waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Gryffindor!

"Gryffindor, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely!"

'You could be great, you know, in Slytherin - it's all here in your head."

"I'll be great in Slytherin?"

"Yes, Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that. And the fact that you're considering it doesn't that tell you that you already know it... so why not Slytherin."

"No it's can't be Slytherin."

"Why can't you boy?"

"I'm a Potter."

"Very weak reason don't you think."

"It's not! I'm the son of James Potter, a pure Gryffindor!"

"I don't think that James Potter would harbor the same feelings that you once had my boy."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh! You don't remember you-"

"Leave that out of this Tarrant it is not for you to say."

"And this is a Sorting Albus I will say what I please."

"The boy will be told at a different time he needs someone to explain it to him privately."

"Will you?"

"Of course."

"What are you talking about!"

"Well, if you're sure Albus - anyway back on track better be -"

"Not Slytherin! And was that the Headmaster's voice!?"

"No? You sure?"

"Yes! And you haven't awnsered my que-"

"If you're insisting so much, GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall.

He took off the hat and walked at first shakily toward the Gryffindor table but picked up faux confidence when he saw Neville waving him over.

He was so relieved to have been chosen for Gryffindor and not be put in Slytherin.

He grinned inwardly when he noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer in Gryffindor and in the whole of Hogwarts. The seats were long forgotten and Ginger-haired-haired twins, were chanting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier and in front of Neville.

"We're in the same house Harry!"

"I didn't know that we were Nev, thanks for telling me that."

"I really thought I was going to Hufflepuff."

"Remember what Hermione said, you have to be confident in yourself and if the Sorting Hat thinks you belong here you definitely do."

"Yeah... she's always right," Neville quickly wiped the goofy look of his face, "Anyway! I didn't doubt that you were going to be put in Gryffindor."

Harry just grimaced slightly. Hiding his discomfort Harry just looked at the High Table.

He could see the High Table properly now unlike with his quick glance.

At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore.

Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts.

Harry was definitely sure that he was the one who had gotten involved in the Sorting.

Looking at the Sorting stool he saw sitting on there the boy who was talking to the ginger haired boy.

It seemed a few people had been Sorted while he was looking away.

Having a closer look at the boy Harry had to admit that he was handsome. He had short, puffy brown hair, piercing blue eyes and also lean but tall stature.

"Gryffindor!"

Compared to Harry's applause it was lacking but the enthusiasm shown by the older female population was unnerving.

The boy took the seat on the otherside of the ghost.

"Rabastan, Corvus!"

Corvus just strolled over to the hat with zero care yet it didn't come off as lazy or snobbish, placing the hat on his head confidently and taking in the shout of his house as if it was scripted.

"Slytherin!"

He walked at his own pace and sat next to the blonde stunner who Harry had seen subtly beckon to him.

"Weasley, Ronald!"

A ginger haired boy who was at three inches taller than Harry. As quickly as he had put on the hat the Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

"Zabini, Blaise!"

Blaise was a tall, dark skinned boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes.

"Slytherin!"

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

The Hall broke into applause. All in all the whole ceremony had taken fifty five minutes.

Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.

Harry would have laughed but remembering his Sorting caused a doubt of charecter and the growing of a grudge.

"Is he - a bit mad?" he asked Neville uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Neville. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But Gran always said he was a bit mad but everyone is. Would you like some steak Harry? Oooooh. Pass the lamb will you."

Harry's mouth fell open and crashed on the ground.

The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

Harry had a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you -?" Weasley insensitively began.

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost looking annoyed. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've in troduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me all about you - you're Nearly Headless Nick aren't you!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy -" the ghost began stiffly, trying to avoid this route of conversation, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

"Like this," he said irritably.

He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge.

Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly.

Looking pleased at the stunned and pale looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."

Harry and the others looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood.

He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements and was doing his best to avoid looking in the ghosts direction.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never really asked," said Nearly Headless Nick so delicately Harry was sure he had.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before.

A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding -

As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

The others laughed.

"I'm a Pureblood, but everyone calls my family a bunch of blood-traitors." Said Ron.

"Are you related to the prefect and those twins?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, they're Fred and George and the Prefect is Percy."

"Must be nice to have three brothers."

"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy.

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his robe and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to stuffing his gullet in a way that seemed like something was holding himself back.

Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl.

Trying to get some attention off him; Oliver Runcorn, who sat next to Nick, said in a mock pompous voice, "Well I'm from the great and noble house of Runcorn."

Although Harry found the voice funny the two Gryffindor girls, Parvati and Brown who had come packaged with Ron and Oliver, seemed to find it hilarious.

"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all- Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me - he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned - but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here - they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

"Where is he by the way?" Harry asked.

After looking around in alarm Neville proceeded to bang his head against the table.

Now this was funny but Parvarti and Brown, who Harry was beginning to regret sitting near as they kept giving him and Oliver glances and giggling madly, didn't seem to find it as funny as the boys did.

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again.

Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet and Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore.

"Anybody know the teachers names?"

"I do," said Ron, "There's Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, who teaches Transfiguration, Professor Flitwick, the midget, he teaches Charms, the chubby woman is Professor Sprout, guess what she teaches and there's Professor **_Snake_** , he teaches potions and he's a proper git - always does anything for his Slytherins."

"His names not really Snake is it?" Asked Dean.

"No it's Severus Snape."

"Snivellus?!"

"Snivellus?"

"That's what's my dad used to call a guy in his year - Slytherin obviously - who was called Snape.

"Haha! I'll have to tell Fred and George about that one."

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again.

The hall fell silent.

"Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, we are hosting the first ever Interschool Ball."

"He's not serious?" Olivver muttered to Ron.

"We are having this ball with Whitehall School of Wizarding. They will be staying in Hogwarts a week before the Ball and the Ball will be on the last day of school. We hope that we can foster a friendship between this school, so I ask we be on our best behaviour."

"Yes, Headmaster." Came the monotonous drone of hundreds of students.

"Good! And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school, Gryffindor really, bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.

Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase.

Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.

They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves - show yourself"

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last: six four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains.

Their trunks had already been brought up.

Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.

"Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."

"So what does everyone think about the Ball." Oliver asked

"It's going to be shit." Dean said.

"I agree." Harry said lazily.

"I dunno it depends on who we take..." Neville piped up.

"Take a girl! Hell no!" Ron shouted.

"You gay?" Said Seamus.

"Wha- No!" Ron replied.

"I'd take Padma." Oliver said.

"Greengrass is better." Harry said.

"You met her personally?" To Harry's shake of the head he said, "Stone cold."

"Really?"

"Yeah, anyway she's a sucker for Corvy."

"You know him?" Neville asked.

"My dad and his are friends."

"Don't you think his eyes are a bit weird?" Harry pondered.

"The colour?" Asked Ron

"No it's the fact it looks glazed."

"The hell you talking about?" Dean said.

"It's like Ron's."

"Ron's what?" Ron asked looking confounded.

"It might just be me but your eyes look glazed."

"Its just you mate." Seamus said.

"Oh... well who would you pick then?"

"I d-don't know." Neville quickly replied.

"I might pick Parvati." Dean said.

"I wouldn't." Oliver, Harry and Neville said at the same time.

Everyone gave Oliver strange looks.

"Just because their twins doesn't mean they're the same."

"He's right Parvati is pretty whiney," Neville said, "My gran tried to make me friends with the twins and after the first hour I stuck with Padma."

"How about Lavender?" Ron said.

"She's a giggler mate. The most annoying type of girl." Harry said.

Everyone laughed, "She is pretty though." Oliver said.

"How about Hermione?" Neville asked quietly.

"The buck-tooth?" Dean said crudely causing Seamus and Ron, who seemed to have to force it out, to laugh.

Neville reddened.

"Not funny." Oliver said with an edge.

"Calm down." Seamus said.

"Anyway she's a proper know-it-all, did you see the- *Uck!*"

"You alright!" Everyone asked at the same time.

"Yeah. Couldn't get the words out."

"Do you know why?" Harry asked.

"Dunno. Anyway favourite Quidditch team?"

The conversation quickly delved onto an explanation of Quidditch and a debate. Some spells were cast.

Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because when he went to sleep he had a very strange dream.

The dream was telling a story he had long forgotten.

A story about a cupboard... burning.

A bruised lump... burning.

A broken stick... burning.

Another lump which had long since healed, so as to say...burning.

The fourth house... burning.

Yet the mess just stood there silently and desensitised as a hobo pointed his wood at him and the dream cut to black... in a rush of flames.

* * *

AN: Sorry I'm a week late. I wasn't in the creative mood and the schlock I was writing wasn't going to be posted.

Anyway what do you think about the story BTW I'm splitting from the original in a massive way.

Also you know that clue I gave it was part of the original plan but I realised that it was useless but if you worked it out I'll give you another one.

Who can work out what the Prologue is?

Clues in your dreams.

Goodnight. /hTwlF6tkmRg


End file.
